


Rollercoaster

by Backbiter222



Category: Original Work
Genre: Birth, Compare, Death, Divorce, Edge - Freeform, Gen, Graduation, Hands, King - Freeform, Love, Marriage, Mistakes, POV Second Person, Roller Coasters, School, Standing, Symbolism, born, car, coaster, daughter - Freeform, fail, fall - Freeform, father - Freeform, high, life - Freeform, ride - Freeform, roller - Freeform, son - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 14:54:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16199831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Backbiter222/pseuds/Backbiter222
Summary: Life is like a rollercoaster. No. That’s not right. Life is a rollercoaster. It has a beginning. It has an end. There are ups and downs, loops and turns, twists and plunges. All lives are rollercoasters, some more so than others. The ride is hard, but also fun. You hate it, you love it, you never want it, you always need it. Life is a rollercoaster. Life is your rollercoaster.





	Rollercoaster

        Life is like a rollercoaster. No. That’s not right. Life is a rollercoaster. It has a beginning. It has an end. There are ups and downs, loops and turns, twists and plunges.

        It starts when you are born. The rollercoaster goes up, beginning its climb. You scream and yell, eager for the beginning. As you reach the apex, you fall silent. You grow older. You begin to be fed real food, not just the milk from your mother. You grow stronger. Faster. Smarter. Then you fall. You plunge down, deeper and deeper, speeding along the tracks. You have made your first mistake.

        And it is terrible.

        But you come back. The rollercoaster evens out and slows down. You begin to forget the beginning, to remember the middle. You begin to learn. To travel to school.

        There you learn facts, numbers, books, notes, meaningless stuff that has no real purpose in existing. You find what the wind feels like in your face. You experience the joy of the rollercoaster.

        When you begin to rise again, to travel the second incline, you begin high school. You move on with your life, the beginning traveling faster than you could have imagined. It seems so long ago.

        You travel up and up. You score well on your tests, you move up grades. You excel and succeed. Then you reach the top.

        You hover at the top of the rollercoaster for a minute or two. You sit in your seat, the seat in the auditorium during graduation, the seat in the front of the car of the rollercoaster. You are the highest of them all, the king of the world. First in your class, first in your car.

        Then comes the next fall. This one is so, so much worse.

        You scream and yell, call and shout.

        But the fall is so fun. You are finally free. Free to party, free to love, free to be you. Screw college, screw the rules. You stand up in your seat and throw your arms in the air. You yell and call. But the rollercoaster moves on, even if you do not.

        Before you know it, the coaster begins a new loop. It takes you upside down and backwards, twisting and turning. You realize everything is wrong, lost, broken.

        You drop back further than ever before, watching helplessly as everyone else moves ahead of you. The rollercoaster moves on, college moves on. Life moves on.

        As you sit, others stand. As your arms fall, others rise.

        Everything is upside down.

        Everything is spinning.

        The rollercoaster slows to a craw. The twisting is done. You know where you are. The ride is in the middle now. And so are you.

        There is a girl, a boy, whomever. You meet them and you love them. Things are steady.

        Life is good. The coaster is good.

        There is another incline, this one the tallest of them all. But that means you will have the furthest to fall.

        Marriage, sex, children, love, life. The coaster climbs higher. You get a job. You earn money. Tickets. Rides. The rollercoaster is climbing so high you can’t see the bottom. You don’t think you ever will.

        Children, school, summer, school, summer. The rollercoaster begins anew for them. You smile as you watch them take off, smile because you know the ride will be hard, but it will be fun.

        You reach the top of your rollercoaster. You teeter on the edge.

        Divorce.

        Such an ugly word. Such an ugly fall. Such a long fall. But fall it you must.

        The rollercoaster, your life, drops further than ever before. You were so high, so far, so happy, but it could not last.

        The ride picks up speed.

        People are screaming, yelling, calling at the drop, the plunge. They hate you, they love you, they love the ride, they hate the ride. Life moves on.

        The rollercoaster moves on.

        The ride picks up speed. You move faster and faster, reaching a dark tunnel. You enter, not knowing if you’ll ever come out.

        Life reaches its all-time low.

        The rollercoaster dips below the ground.

        You see the other rollercoasters, sometimes. You catch glimpses of your children from afar, always watching, never talking. You yell and scream, but no one hears you. They just think you are enjoying the ride.

        The rollercoaster.

        The life.

        Your life.

        The rollercoaster is more than halfway done. You emerge from the ground to see other rollercoasters are cresting and you look at them and wonder, how might things have been different if you had ridden one of those? How might your life have changed had you picked a better path?

        Some crash and burn. Some rides break, some rollercoasters end early. But some finish strong. Happily. Some lives end peacefully.

        Why did you pick this rollercoaster?

        Why?

        Your kids are reaching their own hills now. Some will plummet and some will rise. They begin their collages. They fall, they rise. They stand, they raise their arms. They yell, they shout, they scream.

        Your own rollercoaster is almost over now.

        You can see the end.

        There is one last hill. One last hurrah. Your wife, your husband, your ex comes back. You try again. There is one last crest to ride on the rollercoaster. And it's a good one.

        You see your kids. You see your family. You rise, not as high as before, but high enough.

        Then the rollercoaster ends. It’s over now. 


End file.
